The Power Marine Chronicles: 21 Days to Evac
by Pokemon-Trainer-Red64
Summary: Less than a week after the failed Invasion of Commorragh, the Power Marine chapter is in hot pursuit of Farseer Narieth, aboard her wraithship. Their goal is simple: Kill the traitorous Eldar. But, when the 3rd company, led by Captain Tragun, land on a desert world, he finds himself beset by enemies. Can Tragun and his men survive long enough for extraction? I do not own Warhammer.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here it is, the first chapter in the sequel to The Invasion of Commorragh! And don't worry, the next chapter won't be this short.**

* * *

Governor Madrio Bidrel listened in boredom to the report.

"Strange readings, Governor." the retainer had responded when Madrio asked why his dining hours had been interrupted.

"Strange readings?! You interrupt my meal because of strange readings!?" he had responded. After explanation that these reading has to be spoken about, Madrio had sighed submissively and waved his hand for the retainer to speak.

"As you know, we've been doing scans of the local area to explain the disappearances of local wildlife. In fact, we've always wanted to do the scans due to those ancient ruins that we can always see, but only after animals went missing did we get permission to do it." the retainer said, and Madrio sighed.

"Continue." he sighed.

"Well, the readings we've picked up on are... Well... Strange. They show some kind of... Malevolence, but the readings show something technological rather than to do with the warp. We recently discovered an entryway to some kind of underground crypt. We sent in a team of our best archaeologists to investigate." the retainer said.

"Your point being? I don't see what archaeology has to do with scans." Madrio said.

"Well, they discovered some pretty interesting stuff. The crypt turned out to be a massive network of catacombs that we suspect goes as deep into the planet as the middle of the lower mantle." the retainer said. The planet, named Caldro, had a crust that was 80 kilometers thick, and then underneath the crust was a vast amount of empty space that went for about 10 kilometers, before reaching the Upper Mantle, which was 672 or so kilometers thick, underneath which was another 50 kilometers in length, before the lower Mantle, which was 2000 kilometers thick, took control before the outer and inner core was located.

"That far down?" Madrio asked, suddenly interested. It was common knowledge that anything below the Upper Mantle was incredibly hot, and from what the retainer was saying, these catacombs were not natural, and thus, some kind of ancient civilization, which had always been said to have lived on Caldro at least a million years before the Horus Heresy, had made these catacombs.

"Yes. We found ruins in the catacombs not unlike the ones visible on the surface." the retainer said, confirming Madrio's suspicions. "And the ruins we found were completely sealed off from our archaeologists, despite their advanced drilling technology. The only way in seems to be some kind of... Temporal shift, which, obviously, we aren't capable of. All of this points to an incredibly technologically advanced civilization, with tech even better than the most expensive things the Imperium has to offer. Which led the archaeologists to thinking, if we could somehow harness this ancient tech-"

"Stop. I don't care about 'ifs' and 'maybes'. Is there anything else to tell me? Perhaps with regard to the missing wildlife?" Madrio said. The retainer looked at him, somewhat crestfallen.

"Well, we've been unable to locate the missing wildlife, but, there's a bit more to say..." the retainer said.

"Yes?"

"Well... Five days ago, we lost contact with the archaeologists. Just after we heard something on the vox about the ruins glowing with some kind of green energy, the vox shorted out." he said and Madrio snorted.

"A technology failure, nothing more." he stated.

"Well, we thought so too, but then we lost contact with the surrounding settlements. Over the past few days, contact with seven major towns and villages, along with a dozen or so smaller ones. We sent a company of the Planetary Defense force to investigate yesterday, but after a report that they'd reached the first settlement, we've heard nothing from them." the retainer said. Madrio considered this.

"Intriguing... Well, you may leave now, and I'll think things over while I finish eating." Madrio said. The retainer nodded and left, and as the Governor watched him go, he had a nagging doubt gnawing at the back of his brain that the company of the Planetary Defense force would ever be seen or heard from again.


	2. Chapter 2

Tragun sat down wearily after he had finished his practice bout with Varple, captain of the first company. Tragun himself had great skill with the blade, but Varple, who had some forty more years experience than him, was clearly his superior in combat. Tragun wiped sweat from his brow, looking up at his brother.

"Good fight." Varple said, setting the gladius aside. "I can tell that, if not for me, you would be next in line for chapter master." he added, grinning. Tragun smiled wearily.

"As captain of the 3rd company, I very much doubt that. What I don't doubt, though, is that I'll enjoy cutting apart a few Eldar when we find them." Tragun replied. It had been seven months since the Power Marines failed invasion of Commorragh, or rather, for them it had been. Outside of the warp, however, it had only been three days. The Power Marines chapter was in hot pursuit of Farseer Narieth of craftworld Ulthwe, who had betrayed them at the end of the battle. The Power Marines knew where the Eldar were heading- a backwater, desert world named Caldro.

"As will I, Tragun, as will I." Varple said, a little grimly. "And with luck, we might be able to enlist the help of the local Imperial garrison when we arrive." he added. Tragun smirked.

"We're space marines. We don't need Imperial Guard." he said. Varple chuckled.

"That's true enough. I daresay we could kill all the Eldar without a drop of space marine blood spilled." Varple said, and Tragun grinned.

"Bet my company can kill more than yours." he said, and Varple stuck out his hand for Tragun to shake.

"You're on." Tragun took the outstretched hand and shook it.

* * *

Governor Madrio looked nervously at the three people assembled in the room with him. They were in a bunker, hiding from the menace that had risen from the crypts. It had been fifteen days since Madrio's retainer had informed him of the strange readings. Now those readings had killed 90% of the population and taken over every major city, town and village. The 10% of humans still alive were holed up in small villages, bunkers, and camps.

"Well, these... Monstrosities have sent a message, Governor." one man, Madrio's second in command, said. Madrio gave a start of surprise.

"A message?" he asked. Madrio hadn't actually seen any of the legions that had killed so many, but he had heard garbled reports from what few people had seen them and lived to tell the tale.

"Yes. We received it two days ago, but it's taken us a while to decrypt. Would... Would you like to hear it?" the man asked. Madrio paused.

"Yes, but first... You did send a distress signal?" he asked. The man nodded.

"As soon as you told me to. Now, I will play the message." he said. He placed a small vox receiver onto the table, and all four men in the room gathered around to hear. Governor Madrio, Viceroy Calson, who was his right hand man, General Johnson, and Commander Jacoby. Calson nervously pushed the button on the receiver, and the message played.

_"We are the Necrontyr. We claim dominion of this world. Surrender and die." _said a hollow, empty, malice filled, evil voice.

"Surrender and die? Surely it means surrender OR die?" Johnson noted, a note of horror in his voice. Calson shook his head.

"I thought so too. But the boys who decrypted it said they made no errors." he said. Madrio looked nervously at the three others.

"Well, at least we're safe here in this bunker." he said, his voice shaking.

"I hope so, Governor." Jacoby replied. Suddenly, the door opened and three guardsmen, plus a sergeant, entered.

"Sirs, our boys have spotted a phalanx of those... Things heading this way." the sergeant said. "We need to get you out of here." he finished. Madrio stepped forward, eager to be away from the monsters who had taken his world. But, suddenly, a horrible, cracking noise sounded, and cracks appeared in the floor on the far side of the room. The sergeant and Johnson drew their laspistols, and the guardsmen hefted their lasguns.

"What the hell is happening?" Johnson hissed. He received his answer when a great cloud of dust appeared as chunks of rock flew into the air from the cracks. A small chunk hit a guardsmen squarely in the head, and, without even screaming, he fell to the ground where he lay, ominously still. When the dust cleared, Madrio opened his mouth in a silent scream as a silvery mass of... Something metallic. The swarm swept forward, and Johnson, the Sergeant and the two guardsmen opened fire. The sergeant rushed forward and kicked at the mass. His foot was enveloped by it and he screamed in pain. When he pulled his foot away and turned, hopping, around, Madrio saw his foot, and a portion of his ankle, was gone, a small amount of bone poking through the stump, gore dripping from it.

The sergeant, off balance, fell backwards into the mass and was instantly covered in the thousands of tiny, metal bodies. He let out a loud scream that hung in the air long after it stopped, and Jacoby drew his own pistol, joining the soldiers firing at the mass. Said mass surged forwards and, before he could run, enveloped Calson's feet. He too screamed and fell down to be devoured, and, just before everything was gone, the others could view a bleached bone, a little damp, poking up above the mass before it was consumed. The guardsmen frantically continued firing, before one tossed his gun to the side, turned, and ran from the room. However, upstairs, the sound of lasfire and something else firing, as well as hundreds of metal footsteps, was audible as the mass surged forward and took Jacoby into it.

To the Commander's credit, he didn't scream. Nor did Johnson when it took him. The lone guardsman still in the room did scream though, first when the mass consumed his fallen comrade, and then even more when it took him. Madrio was alone in the room as the mass surged forwards for him, and he drew his own pistol. But, rather than trying to fire at the swarm, he placed the barrel against his right temple and, just a moment before he too was consumed, he squeezed the trigger. He didn't even feel it when he hit the ground and was eaten.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a great crackle of energy as a ship, slender, long, elegant, coloured black and white, and emanating some faint aura, suddenly appeared in space above Caldro. It stayed there for a few moments, unmoving, eerily silent... And then a green beam shot from the planet below, slamming into the flank of this beautiful ship. It shuddered under the impact, smoke pouring from the hit, before four more beams shot from the world. This time, the ship was ready, and, with a spiraling roll, evaded the deadly energy. But it narrowly avoided one of them, almost being hit by the beam. More of them appeared from the planet, a deadly volley which caused the ship to be constantly moving. Then, just as it seemed the ship could avoid no more, there was a great flaring of purple, lightning crackled, and a massive hole in the fabric of reality appeared over Caldro. From this hole, streamed the Gothic fleet of the Power Marines chapter. The energy stopped for a moment, before more green beams filled the sky, some targeting the wraithship, some aimed for the Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers. Despite this, all the Power Marine ships fired upon the lone wraithship, determined to reduce it to naught but a charred, blackened husk.

* * *

Yariel stumbled as the _Barrage of Death _shuddered under the impact of the energy beams. He cursed, and looked to an officer. "Why is the planetary defense firing on us?" he asked, and the officer shrugged.

"I don't know. Perhaps they have turned to chaos." the officer replied, before hurrying to his post. Yariel glared at him, before he strode out of the bridge, heading for the Observation Deck.

* * *

When Yariel reached the deck, he glared down at the surface of Caldro, and then he saw it. An emerald green beam of energy. It slammed into the ship, and Yariel knew one thing for certain- This was not he work of Imperial Guard. Or even Chaos. They did not fire emerald green beams of energy. Suddenly, he heard his vox receiver crackling.

"Chapter Master, the Eldar have made for the planet's surface!" someone said on the other end. "Should we pursue with our ships?" Yariel considered this.

"Negative. Concentrate on evading the attacks. Inform me when they've landed, though." he said.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Farseer Narieth glanced at the hundred warriors assembled around her. They all knew that their task was likely to result in their deaths. But the enemy on this planet must be defeated, no matter the cost. Preferably, the cost would be the lives of Space Marines, not Eldar, but they were prepared to sacrifice themselves to defeat the immortal enemy nonetheless. She looked around at her warhost, of Guardians and Fire Dragons and Reapers and Howling Banshees. She sighed, and drew breath.

"Warriors of Ulthwe! Prepare for battle!" she cried, and the warhost was teleported, as, to all appearances, the wraitship had vanished.

* * *

"Sir!" a startled cry said to Yariel as he walked briskly back for the bridge. "The Eldar ship has vanished!"

"What?" Yariel said, surprised.

"They've vanished! But, before they did, they teleported a hundred warriors down to the surface. We believe that their farseer is with them. Your orders?" the voice said. Yariel thought for a second.

"Get the 3rd company into drop pods. We'll take the fight to them."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Tragun looked around at his diminished company, only forty men strong. He sighed, then stepped onto a drop pod with his command squad, sparing a last glance at his men before the doors shut. He strode over to a harness, and locked himself in, his command squad following suit. He sighed again, before opening his mouth to speak.

"Let's go kill us some Eldar!" he cried, and his men growled in agreement, before there was a plunging feeling in Traguns stomach as the pod was released from the ship.

* * *

Narieth and her soldiers glanced around at the barren desert around them, devoid of life, completely empty. Suddenly, however, there was a flash of blinding green light, and they were surrounded by scores of metal skeletons, tall, and hefting their gauss weapons. Narieth screamed a battle cry, and the warhost charged at the Necrons, weapons firing as emerald green beams of energy fired into the Eldar ranks, claiming four lives in the initial volley. The rest of the Eldar managed to evade the shots. Before the Eldar reached their Deathless foes, another dozen were slain. As the screaming warhost connected with the Necron lines, beautiful, finely made blades rose and fell, reaping the metal skulls from the Living Metal shoulders. Many Necrons phased out the moment they were hit by the blades, however, a few dismembered limbs and heads slowly were crawling back towards the bodies, despite how impossible it seemed. Narieth curb stomped one skull as it slid towards the torso and limbs, and the already damaged Necron vanished in green light. Her witchblade spun in great arcs, phasing out several Necrons. Amid the chaos of the pitched battle, she suddenly became aware of a slight whistling, keening noise which was slowly getting louder, developing into a scream. And then, a hundred meters away, a large object, its hull bright orange from the heat of its descent from space, slammed into the ground, to be followed by four more. All five drop pods had landed in the midst of the Necron line, causing a dozen crushed, slightly melted Necrons to phase out.

* * *

Tragun felt the harness lift over his head moments after the jarring impact of the Drop Pod landing. A few seconds later, the doors clanged down, and he vacated the pod, his five man strong command squad following suit. When he left, he expected to see a warhost of Eldar lying in wait for him, weapons aimed and ready to slay the Power Marines. Instead he found himself in the midst of a battle zone, Eldar locked in desperate combat with mysterious enemies Tragun had never encountered. They were humanoid in form, the same build as a human, only they were metal, and there was no flesh, just skeletons or adamantium or some other substance, and a green glow, unnerving and terrifying, came from the eye sockets. But aside from all this, one thing that stood out and showed these were not humans in the past. Their height. They were tall- Taller than even a space marine clad in full Power Armour, even if it was a small difference. And their guns- They fired an emerald green substance that was probably the same as what had hit the Power Marine ships. And, every beam, upon contact with an Eldar, reduced the unfortunate alien to dust. No human technology was capable of that.

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" Tragun roared after he observed these new foes, and his company, forty men, the command squad and a dreadnaught, echoed the cry as the fired at the enemy. He raised his bolt pistol-He had discarded his plasma pistol for this battle-And fired into the ranks of the skeletons. The bolt slammed into the chest of a Necron and exploded. The chest was torn apart and the creature keeled backwards, thudding into the ground. Tragun grinned, then his face fell when the armour plating began to melt back together and wires began knitting together. He fired off two more shots a the Necron, one hitting the leg, the other in the head. The headshot seemed to do the trick, and the Necron vanished in a burst of green then fired at more Necrons, as his men peppered scores of Necrons with bolter fire, causing many to phase out. The Eldar too were fighting the Necrons, but Tragun and his men could not yet engage them- The Necrons were in the way. And thus, these creatures must be annihilated, for they stood in the path of these vengeful Angels of Death.


End file.
